what does it mean?
The swiftness of the blow intensified the national trauma. There is no way to cushion the shock of an assassination, but the knowledge that fantastic events were in progress at that very moment, coupled with the maddening uncertainty, had created a havoc which had swept up tens of millions of Americans. The immediacy of a running account, however piecemeal, outstrips any report of an accomplished fact. If a thing is done, it is done; if it is being done, the spectator feels that the outcome may be altered—may even feel that he himself may alter it. Audiences are under the illusion that they are on stage. In a sense they are. Their yearning puts them there.】

what does "fantastic events"indicate?

Question

what does it mean?
The swiftness of the blow intensified the national trauma. There is no way to cushion the shock of an assassination, but the knowledge that fantastic events were in progress at that very moment, coupled with the maddening uncertainty, had created a havoc which had swept up tens of millions of Americans. The immediacy of a running account, however piecemeal, outstrips any report of an accomplished fact. If a thing is done, it is done; if it is being done, the spectator feels that the outcome may be altered—may even feel that he himself may alter it. Audiences are under the illusion that they are on stage. In a sense they are. Their yearning puts them there.】

what does "fantastic events"indicate?

Answer

"fantastic" is used to mean anything out of the ordinary-- anything special, or hard to believe

Answer

Like the answer above indicates, "fantastic events" in this case means events that are unbelievable or shocking. It also takes on a "bad" connotation (in other words, that the shocking event was not a good one).

However, it's important to note that this is not the only thing "fantastic" can mean. In normal English conversation, the word "fantastic" is actually used in a positive way! It usually means something excellent or good has happened. Here's an example of a sentence that uses the word that way:

Did you hear? Bob got a promotion! Isn't that fantastic?

In this sentence, Bob getting a promotion isn't hard to believe, and it certainly isn't bad. This is the way most Americans would use "fantastic" in normal speech.

Hope that helps!

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